


Hanukkah Wrapping

by barryallenisravenclaw



Category: Blue Beetle (Comics), Booster Gold (Comics), Justice League International (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Holidays, Jewish Holidays, M/M, Song fic, and they dont actually do much Hanukkah stuff, but I know the basics, cause its that, disclaimer that im not jewish, for everyones favorite jewish beetle, have you heard Christmas wrapping by the waitresses, its a Hanukkah fic, its a lot of flashback, some of the lines are direct from the song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27873750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barryallenisravenclaw/pseuds/barryallenisravenclaw
Summary: Ted and Booster have had a pretty crazy year together. After meeting in a ski shop at the tail end of 1986, all of 1987 is fraught with misunderstandings and near misses. Will they be able to make a connection by the of the year, or will Ted be alone forever?-----Its a songfic of Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses (1981) except Hanukkah and these two dumbasses.TW: Ted has a panic attack at one point
Relationships: Michael Carter/Ted Kord
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Hanukkah Wrapping

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy! I haven't written them in a while so it may feel a little off but I just had to get this out before Hanukkah. Again, I'm Catholic so feel free to say something if I said anything wrong about Hanukkah. I'm more than willing to jump back in and correct my mistakes.
> 
> Happy holidays, everyone! Remember to take care of yourself, especially if you have to celebrate away from loved ones. This is already a hard time of year for a lot of people, and it looks like it'll be bad for more this year. Stay safe!
> 
> Reminder: ted has a panic attack at one point. It during the Halloween section and can be found in italics because he is having racing thoughts.

It was that time of year again, and Ted was finding it very difficult to become enthused. As always, it was hard enough to get excited for Hanukkah when the city was covered in Christmas decorations, but even worse was Ted’s sense of crushing loneliness. He had almost no friendships left. His biting wit and refusal to open up emotionally had steadily eroded each friend until they finally got fed up enough to leave him. Even when he did have friends, none of them were Jewish and therefore couldn’t really get into the spirit of it. As expected, most of them were raised Christian in various denominations. Even his dad, when they were on speaking terms, hated Hanukkah because it reminded him of Ted’s mom and the good old days.

Ted’s two remaining friends, Tora and Barbara, were both out of town this year, though of course they’d be back to invite him to their Christmas parties when the time came. Both were out on business, so Ted really shouldn’t have been as bitter about it as he was. It was only that he already hated being alone so much and the holidays made it so much worse. He felt abandoned, in a way, too since Barbara had many close friends who were Jewish. It felt like she should understand.

Speak of the devil. He let it ring a few times as he slowly made his way to the kitchen wall to answer, then—

“Bah humbug,” Ted answered the phone morosely. He received a snort in reply.

“Now, Ted, that’s too strong,” Barbara replied. “This is your favorite holiday! Eat, drink, and be merry at the nearest bar if you’re really that desperate for company.”

Ted rolled his eyes lovingly. She always tried her best to cheer him up when she knew he was especially upset. He remembered too late that she couldn’t see his face over the phone and fumbled for a quick recovery line.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Her disappointment was nigh tangible.

“Hey,” she said, sobering slightly, “if you’re really feeling the holiday blues, Bruce’s offer still stands.”

“Sure, Babs, I’ll just crash the Hanukkah of a guy who hates my guts on one of the first years he’s celebrating with a full family present. I’m sure he’d appreciate that,” Ted sighed sarcastically.

“It’s not crashing if he’s invited you.”

“It’s not an invitation if our mutual friend had to force him into it.” He can almost hear the woman grinding her teeth together in mounting frustration. He was a recluse, she knew that, he wished she’d give up on trying to change that part of him. Ted sat down at his kitchen table and sighed, twirling the phone cord around his index finger. “Look, this year’s been such a busy blur. I don’t think I have the energy to add to my already mad rush just cause it’s “tis the season” all right?”

“You are absolutely impossible,” was his friend’s reply. “Honestly. You think not having a party in the week you’re religiously obligated to party is going to make you feel better? That’s insane! Jesus, just call Bea or John or even Guy, they’ll do _something_ with you!”

“Um, about them,” Ted grimaced.

“What did you do?”

“Bea made fun of my fashion sense so I commented on her hair color choices and she hasn’t spoken to me since Halloween,” Ted admitted.

“Oh for-“ Barbara cut herself off with a sigh. Its frustrated tone traveled surprisingly strongly over the phone. “Similar stories for the others, too, I assume.”

“Well for John it was just a slightly larger cookie heist, and you know how Guy is.” Ted would be smiling if he really found that funny.

“What about that other friend of yours… Murray, right?” She was reaching, and they both knew it.

“Haven’t seen him since my last day as CEO over there,” Ted replied shortly. There was a heavy silence as Barbara presumably tried to think of something, anything to cheer him up.

“What about that guy?” She came up with eventually. Ted blushed furiously, elated that she couldn’t see it.

“What guy?”

“You know,” she said, sounding like she was grinning, “the guy. The one from the ski shop incident?” Damn. There was no playing it cool, now.

“You don’t remember exactly what happened with him, do you?” Ted inquired. If she did, she would remember how horribly embarrassing the stories are.

“Remind me,” was Barbara’s only reply. Ted could hear the sarcastic tilt of her eyebrow as clearly as he would have seen it.

“Why must you torture me?” Ted said, but he told the story anyway.

——

Picture it, last year, ski shop, encounter most interesting. Ted was with Tora, Bea, Barbara, Dick, and Guy at Bruce’s ski lodge in Vermont. Well, technically it was a ski resort that Bruce owned and _technically_ he was only letting them stay there at a discount because Dick was his adopted son, but who was counting, anyway?

Guy was only with them because without him there for Ted to dick around with, he would have been a fifth wheel. The only reason Ted was there was because Bea had threatened his life unless he did “literally anything” with them for Christmas. Ted hadn’t been jazzed about their continued collective ignorance about his personal tradition of getting wasted every night after lighting the candles, but he was willing to try anything as long as it prevented getting hurt by Bea. She was scary when mad.

Still, as the week went on, Ted found himself continually alone. On the last day, he decided to go ahead down to the rental shop and return his ski supplies, planning on instead spending the last night getting drunk and watching shitty Christmas cartoons. The kid running the returns gave him a look of pity when he saw that Ted’s ski pass had only been punched three times in the six days they’d been there.

“Hey, kid, skiing is hard work,” Ted attempted to defend himself. “If you could get up there as long as I was, you’d need break days, too.”

“Oh there’s no shame in taking a break,” said a voice behind Ted. “Especially when you have other, more interesting, physical activities to engage in.”

Ted rolled his eyes so hard that they almost detached from his nervous system. Yet another middle aged creep who thought Ted’s hot, young, gymnast body could be bought by a cheap line. Well, the joke was on him because Ted hadn’t been hot or young for at least four years.

As he turned around to tear the guy a new one, the words caught in his throat at the sight before him.

The man behind him in line was Apollo himself. Six-foot-five and a gleaming, tan adonis, he looked like he had walked right off of a movie set. Maybe to play Hercules or Thor. He had his coat unzipped while they were inside the building so Ted had a clear view of his tight long underwear clinging to his abs. Even the goofy goggles hanging around his neck did nothing to hinder the man’s blush-inducing, stammer-creating effect. Ted was at a complete loss. He saw the returns kid laugh at his stunned silence as he made his way into the back room out of the corner of his eye, thankfully bringing Ted back to reality.

“Listen buddy,” Ted started, hoping he hadn’t been staring too long, “You can’t go around looking like that and then hitting on guys like me. I might get the wrong idea and think you’re serious. It’s rude to give people false hope.”

“Oh!” The man’s eyes widened comically large, then narrowed as his mouth fell into a leer. “Oh, I wasn’t joking. If anything, I should be laying into you for giving _me_ false hope. A butt like yours comes around once in a lifetime.”

Ted swallowed hard. “Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t we?” The lack of fear in the other man’s eyes was astounding. Here he was, openly hitting on Ted in the middle of a public ski shop in front of God and everybody. Granted, the two of them were the only customers in the place and the kid behind the counter wasn’t exactly in a position to start throwing around accusations, but Ted usually preferred to err on the side of caution when propositioning another man.

Before the man in question had a moment to respond, the kid came back with Ted’s receipt and deposit. He had a ‘you’re free to go’ look about him that Ted figured he should probably take fairly seriously. As he turned to go, the attractive man passed him a slip of paper.

“You look like you’re heading out, so I wrote my home number instead of the hotel room’s,” he said with a wink. Ted smiled shyly and almost tripped over his shoes as he walked out. The number was a New York City area code. What were the odds?

Not even the fact that the guy’s name was Booster could dampen his spirits.

That is, until he stopped to think about it. What would a guy like Booster really be doing hitting on a guy like Ted? Where Ted was soft, Booster was solid. Where Ted was neurotic, Booster was smooth and level-headed. Not to mention the fact that Booster was too particular a nickname to be anything other than sports-related. A guy like that would have to have been joking.

Right?

_(“Ted, you know I love long-winded self deprecating stories as much as the next girl, but where are you going with this? I already know about what happened at the ski shop! Tell me what happened next!” Barbara cut in._

_“Tsk tsk, Babsie, you must have patience. All will be revealed,” Ted replied dramatically.)_

On to the springtime: Ted saw him again.

He wouldn’t have even thought of the man from the ski shop again if he hadn’t literally walked right into him.

Ted had been taking a therapist-mandated walk around his little section of Brooklyn when his walkman went on the fritz. He didn’t see anyone coming and was worried about it eating his Smiths tape, so he looked down to fix it. He managed to eject the tape right before the tell tale grinding noise began and sighed of relief when—

“What the hell?” Ted knew that voice. He looked up to see who he had so rudely run into and saw none other than Booster the Ski Shop Guy standing there in too-short running shorts and no shirt.

“You!” The men exclaimed simultaneously. Ted allowed himself to stare, if only for a moment, at the glorious sight before him. If he looked too long at the glistening expanse of pectorals, he was afraid his eyes would burn up.

“Well isn’t this a surprise?” Booster said, sending a thousand watt grin Ted’s way and forcing the shorter man to move his gaze onto his own shoes. “I didn’t realize you were a fellow Brooklynite when we met in Vermont. What are the odds?”

“Almost as low as my getting your number in the first place,” Ted muttered. He looked up to find a smirk on Booster’s face.

“Which you neglected to call,” Booster supplied. Ted struggled to come up with a reason that didn’t make him sound like he thought he was ugly or undeserving of Booster’s attention.

“I wasn’t sure you were being fully serious?” It comes out as a question, but it’s the best he can come up with. His mind is still reeling from the fact that Booster is once again standing in front of him and intentionally conversing.

“Oh believe me,” Booster said, looking Ted up and down, “I still am. Quite serious.”

Ted couldn’t help it. He blushed up to his ears. After a short awkward silence, he managed to stammer out “lunch?”

“What, now?” Booster’s eyes widened. “Uh, I’m only halfway done with my run, and then I have to get on with my weights.”

“Oh,” Ted said quietly. “Oh, no, that’s ok, you just—“

“But I’m free tomorrow,” Booster cut him off. “Does that work for you?”

“Ah, no,” Ted mentally cursed his father, and not for the first time that day. “I’ve got plans tomorrow. Are you free anytime next week?”

“Negative again,” Booster said, really starting to look dejected. “I’m gonna be in LA all of next week. Could you do the week after that?”

“Can’t,” Ted sighed, “I’ll be in Chicago.” The two men stared at their feet where they stood in the middle of the crowded Brooklyn sidewalk. People were making frustrated noises and walking around them, but Ted couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Well,” Booster started. “How about you call me when you get back to yours and leave your number on my machine. That way I’ll have it and I’ll call you if something opens up? Or you could call me for the same? Or, you know, if you just wanted to talk.”

“Sure,” Ted smiled softly up at his new… whatever this was. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you around.”

Booster grinned. “Keep in touch! I mean it this time!”

Ted smiled to himself as he watched Booster jog away. That really happened. The fluke meeting of the hottest gay guy he’d ever met wasn’t really a fluke. He really thought Ted was hot. And he wanted to see him again!

Over the next few months, Ted and Booster learned a lot about each other. Of course, they never actually made it to a date night or anything, but they had a sort of pen pal situation going on with their answering machines. With all of the time Booster spent in LA for tv advertisement filming and all the time Ted spent flying to Chicago and Gotham to coordinate business ventures, neither was at his own apartment very often. Still, whenever Ted arrived home from whatever hotel, he inevitably had a blinking red light waiting for him.

It was through these phone messages (and occasional, though short, real actual phone calls) that Ted learned this hot guy was a model.

_(“A model?” Barbara cut in. “You’re dating a model? You’ve got to be shitting me.”_

_“What?” Ted replied, falsely affronted. “You don’t think I’m attractive enough to bag a guy like that?”_

_“Ted, you know_ I _think you’re attractive enough,” Barbara replied as if that was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “Only,_ you _don’t._ You _think you’re the ugliest thing since udders on a goat. How can you get through a conversation without collapsing into hysterics?”_

_“Well, it helps that we don’t have many conversations.”)_

Booster had apparently also played high school and college football. After college was when he got into modeling, and from there into tv ads. Apparently Booster was an underwear model, which was why Ted had trouble placing his face but might have recognized his abs. Go figure.

By June Ted was falling for the guy, and that was dangerous. Bea told him so when they went out to Montauk with Guy and Tora.

“You haven’t even been on a date yet,” Bea muttered, bored. She wasn’t looking at him, too busy getting her back tanned. Ted was on guard duty in case someone tried to steal her bikini top, not that she needed it. Bea could fight better than almost anyone Ted knew.

“I know, Bea, believe me, I know.” Ted wasn’t even sure why he was talking to her about this. Maybe it was because she could sort of understand his problem. Not that she had been into someone for months without the time to go on a date, but that she had been into her for months while the girl was with someone else. At any rate, they had both pined. Of course, Bea had already gotten who she wanted. Speaking of--

“Teddy, why don’t you join us down by the water?” Tora asked. Ted thought he could see Guy splashing some punk teenagers in the shallows.

“I’m good.”

  
  
“Oh don’t be such a slag,” Bea teased, redoing her bikini top and sitting up to greet Tora. “Come on, we can bury Guy in the sand. He’ll love it.”

Ted smirked at the idea, but it soon faded. He was too morose to even fight with Guy. Tora gave him a look of understanding before patting him on the head and shooting him a smile.

“You look tired. Stay here and take a nap, Ted, we will watch you from afar and keep you safe in your slumber.” Tora said the nicest things in the weirdest ways sometimes.

“Thanks, I think I will.” Bea rolled her eyes as she stood to walk away and Ted couldn’t blame her. He knew he was being boring but this just wasn’t his day. He was perfectly content to just sit and read _Hitchhiker’s Guide_ for the sixteenth time. He wasn’t expecting to fall asleep on his stomach for three hours.

He definitely wasn’t expecting the third degree sunburn he drove home with.

_(“How dumb are you?” Barbara asked. “It’s called sunscreen and it costs three bucks. Time to invest.”_

_“Pardon me and my distracted psyche,” Ted shot back. He could tell she rolled her eyes by the sarcastic way she replied._

_“You were just moping like always. Now get on with it, I don’t have all night if this story isn’t going to have any payoff.”)_

Booster called the next day when Ted was laying face down on his living room floor, back covered in aloe vera. He struggled to sit up and managed to reach the phone on the fourth ring, only mildly aggravating his burn.

“House of Pain, Ted speaking, how may I direct your call?”

“Hey there Teddy, old buddy old pal!” Came the reply. Ted couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his lips. “How’s things over in your part of the city?”

“Not too peachy, Booster-buddy,” he admitted.

“You okay?” The concern in his voice was quite genuine and ted felt his heart swell. Then he remembered Bea’s words from the day before. He hadn’t even been on a date with the guy, what business did he have letting his heart swell and the like?

“Yeah, Boost,” Ted sighed. “Just got a pretty bad sunburn all down my back yesterday out at Montauk. Nothin a few days on the couch won’t fix.”

“Aw shit,” Booster replied, disappointed. “I was gonna ask if you wanted to join me but… Doesn’t sound like it.”

“Well,” Ted allowed himself a moment to fully appreciate the sincerity in the other man’s tone. “Join you for what?”

“My buddy Max just bought a boat!” The joy in his voice was quite apparent. Ted wouldn’t have been surprised to see Booster full-out grinning into the phone. “Can you believe it? He said he’s having a party tonight to celebrate and for him that means all sorts of hot chicks and debauchery. So I thought, ‘hey, you know somebody who enjoys hot people and might want to engage in debauchery!’ But,” here his voice fell, “That’s not gonna work if you’re laid up, huh?”

“Sorry, man, I really am,” Ted said with as much sincerity as possible. He was getting warm just thinking about what he and Booster could get up to at that party. “If I could move my arms at all I’d be right there with you I swear. Sadly, my shoulders, they do scream. You have fun, though, it sounds like a good time.”

“Oh I don’t know.” Booster paused for a moment, seeming to gather his thoughts. “I probably won’t go. It won’t be any fun without you there. I’ll just be thinking about how you’re not with me the whole time and turn into a real drag.”

“Aw, Boost,” Ted smiled, touched and warmed by Booster’s oddly out of date words. “I promise I’ll make it up to you as soon as I can, okay? I’ll call you when my back is better, we can go to dinner.”

“Swear?” Booster said. He sounded like a kicked puppy. Ted smiled again.

“I swear. Hell, I might even take you dancing. And you should know, I—"

“—don’t dance for just anybody,” Booster finished, knowing, tone lighter than before. “Alright, Romeo, I believe you. And don’t think I’ll forget about the dancing.”

Ted was about to sign off and hang up when Booster spoke up again, this time speaking very softly.

“Hey Teddy?”

“Yeah, Mikey?”

“… Feel better soon, okay?”

Ted smiled to himself again. “Yeah, Boost, I will. See you in a few days, right?”

“Right.”

“Bye, Booster-buddy.”

“Bye, Beetle-buddy.”

Ted hung up the receiver and fell back onto his stomach. Booster was so sweet Ted could feel a cavity coming on. He should never have told him about his childhood bug phase, though, that was going to come back to haunt him.

_(“Ted,” Barbara interrupted. Again._

_“Yes, dear, what is it this time, dear?” Ted asked flatly._

_“Why’d you call him Mikey just there?” Ted flushed. He’d forgotten to edit that out in his retelling._

_“That’s his name.”_

_“Mikey?”_

_“No, Micheal.”_

_“Oh. Okay.” He waited for her to say more. He could tell she would._

_“That’s cute.” Ted’s face burned harder and he continued telling his story.)_

“You’re sure you’ve got the address right?” Ted asked for what was probably the fifth time in that same phone call. They had had each other on speaker phone as they got ready for Barbara’s Halloween party because they were both so excited.

_(“You didn’t tell me you were going to bring anyone!”_

_“That’s because I didn’t.”)_

“Yes, Ted, I’ve got the address.” He was smiling, Ted could tell. Hell, after ten months of phone calls and no dates he should be able to tell! “I am pulling on my other glove. I am setting the tiara on my head. I am taking my keys out of my jacket pocket and preparing to walk out the door. I am wondering why the hell your friend lives all the way out in Bludhaven.”

“It’s alright if I need to fix your _headband_ for you when you get here.” Ted teased.

“I am adjusting my _tiara_ ,” Booster said, just to be a dick. “I am hanging up the phone.”

“See you in ten, right?” Ted asked.

“Yes, Ted,” Booster replied, exasperated but again, smiling. “I’ll see you in ten.”

The receiver clicked as Ted pulled his goggles down to hang around his neck. He couldn’t stop smiling. Finally, _finally_ they were going to be in the same place at the same time, dressed up like dorks and embarrassing Ted because his friends were going to make fun of his enthusiasm but _Ted didn’t care_. He loved Halloween, he loved _Watchmen_ and he loved—

Well, he wasn’t sure yet. But God, it sure felt close. Booster was amazing. He laughed at all of Ted’s jokes, even the stupid puns. He understood Ted in a way most people didn’t. Hell, he’d been able to finish half of Ted’s sentences by the sixth week of voicemail tag. Ted hadn’t felt like this about anyone since _Mel_ and that was...

That was the _only_ other time he’d ever felt like this before.

_Okay Ted, take a breath_ , he told himself. _Let’s just see how tonight goes before we go jumping into any crazy trains of thought._

Still, Ted doubted anyone else would have dressed up with him as Nite Owl and Ozymandias in front of strangers.

——

It had been thirty-five minutes since Booster had hung up the phone. Ted was close to tearing his hair out.

He’d decided that calling wouldn’t do any good at about the twenty mark. If Booster was in the car, calling his house didn’t help. If he was standing Ted up, calling him just meant that Ted would have to face rejection outright. Ted hated facing rejection.

_Keep it together, Ted, he just… hit traffic or something. In the ten minute drive._

“Alright, that’s it.” Just as he was reaching for the phone, it rang. He picked up immediately.

“Booster?”

“Fuck Ted I’m so sorry.” Ted breathed a half sigh of relief. He at least knew Booster was safe.

“Booster, what happened? Where are you?”

“Well I’m not going to be able to pick you up, that’s for sure,” Booster sighed. “I’ve been trying to get the car working this whole time. It wouldn’t start, so I went over to the neighbor’s to ask him for a jump. Then I remembered that this particular neighbor once called my the f-word, so I went to my other neighbor… long story short a lot of people in my building do not own a vehicle and it takes a lot of effort to jump a car that’s parallel parked. Also, it still won’t start. I’m gonna figure out what to do in the morning, but for now…”

Ted rubbed his forehead in frustration. “And of course the Bug is in getting a check up right now so I can’t come and get you. Perfect. You wouldn’t by any chance want to come over here, would you?” They couldn’t take the train, that would take hours, they couldn’t…

“Ah, about that,” Booster said. Ted could tell he was wincing. “I need to stay out here until the tow truck arrives. We’ve got my car parked diagonally, front end in the street right now. The towing guy said it would take a few hours, they’re really busy tonight…”

“So we’re screwed.” Ted sighed. He could feel it building in his gut, something he hadn’t had to deal with in a while. He tried to shut it down. It wasn’t rational, this thing, he was in control of it. He could stop it before it started, he’d done it before.

Booster was talking.

“…though I don’t think waiting outside my building in forty degree weather would make a very exciting first date.”

“No, no, Boost, I don’t think I can—“

“That’s ok, really!” Booster attempted to placate him. “I could come over tomorrow night, maybe? Take you to dinner?”

Oh, God, here it is.

_He doesn’t like you._

_He’s trying to make excuses._

“Oh um, that’d be great except I have to fly to DC tomorrow night.”

_Coward. Liar. You’re doing what you always do. Trying to push him away before he can really reject you. Selfish bastard._

“Ok well… You could call me when you get there? We can compare schedules then?”

_This is why Melody wouldn’t marry you. You were too much of a pussy to tell her what was really going on inside your head. Tell Booster, why don’t you? Tell him you’re too chicken shit to see the hate in his eyes when he finally rejects you._

“Yeah, ok.”

_Liar. Fake. Cheat._

“Okay. Listen, Teddy, I’m really sorry this happened. I was super excited to see you and now… well. Let’s just say I’ve got a lot of ideas for when we finally make this date happen.”

_You don’t deserve him. Even if he really cared about you, which is impossible, you wouldn’t deserve it. You’re not worth the trouble._

“Night, Booster-buddy.” It was halfhearted at best. Booster would be able to tell. _Booster would hate you for it_.

“Night, Beetle-b—“

It was a long time before Ted got back up off of the floor.

He took off his costume, standing in his apartment in nothing but boxers because he couldn’t think of anything better to do with himself.

He sat on the couch and pulled his knees up to himself. He picked up the phone and dialed robotically.

“Bathouse, this is Dick speaking, how can I help you?”

“Hey Dick, there wouldn’t be anyone else in NYC running late would there?”

“Hey, Ted! Babs was getting worried.” He sounded cheerful. Ted wasn’t that close to the kid, but he knew that he made Barbara happy and he seemed nice enough. “Actually, Dinah just called. She said Ollie couldn’t decide on a tie so he changed both of their outfits. They’re leaving in a few. You need a ride?”

“That’d be great, man, thanks,” Ted replied. He tried to punch up his voice as much as possible to sound cheery. “I’ll give them a call.”

“See you soon!” Ted hung up and called Dinah’s. She said they’d pick him up in five minutes. He went to his closet to look for a more lackluster costume.

Maybe he still had his old burgundy bell bottoms back there somewhere. He knew he had a green t-shirt at least.

He hadn’t decided if he wanted to get drunk or high that night, but now that he knew Oliver was going to be there, that sealed the deal. Shaggy would be the more appropriate costume.

——

“No thanks, no party lights,” Ted heard himself say. Barda was arguing with him but he wasn’t listening. She was giving him advance notice on a Christmas party she and Scott were hosting for all of their old intramural soccer buddies. She didn’t mention Hanukkah once. Ted hung up at the earliest opportunity.

It was the first night of Hanukkah and he had no one to celebrate with, so he decided he was gonna relax. He’d turned down all of his Christmas invites and was settling in for a weeklong Star Trek marathon. Shatner was Jewish, he could indulge. Ted had the new show to watch at least. Besides, it wasn’t like there were any Hanukkah specials to watch.

——

Night two showed Ted still on the couch in his living room and screening his calls.

——

Another call from Booster, the second that night. He hadn’t talked to him since Halloween. What was Ted thinking? That somehow ignoring the hottest guy who’d ever taken an interest in him would make him feel better?

His hand hovered over the receiver for thirty seconds before his insecurities got the best of him.

——

One day Ted was going to die from eating too many latkes.

——

If his cousins still talked to him, they be gambling by now and Ted would be down at least thirty gelt.

——

Booster was calling again. Couldn’t he understand? Ted wasn’t good enough for him anyway, Booster might as well go find someone who had the decency to answer his phone once in a while.

——

Maybe Ted was being an idiot after all.

——

“You definitely are.” Barbara told him over the phone. He was still sitting in his kitchen staring at his minuscule turkey cooking in the oven.

“Well I know that _now_ ,” Ted argued.

“Teddy I love you but I need you to listen now and listen good.” Ted steeled himself for some powerful tough love. He was pretty sure he knew where this was going. “This hot piece of ass you’re pining over is clearly in love with you. Go call him right now or I swear to Xena _I_ will, and you won’t like what I say to him.”

“You don’t even know his last name.” Barbara’s pointed silence was enough. “Alright, alright, I’ll call him.”

“You’d better,” she replied, then hung up.

“Happy Hanukkah to you, too, Babsie,” Ted muttered. He was still staring at his turkey and trying to come up with an excuse. He decided to run through his dinner checklist quickly to see if he’d missed anything vital.

World’s smallest turkey check; already in the oven, nice and hot.

“Oh damn,” Ted exclaimed out loud. “Guess what I forgot.”

So he scrambled up out of his chair, nearly knocking it over in his haste to get his boots on and go out into the snow to the only all-night grocery. Thank God for small miracles. Don’t have to call the guy you’ve been ignoring when you’re busy buying—

“What to my wandering eyes should appear,” a voice behind him said. Ted knew that voice. He slowly turned around to find…

Michael Jon “Booster Gold” Carter standing directly behind him in line.

“Oh,” Ted said quickly, averting his eyes and pretending to inspect the tin can in his hands. “Hey Booster.”

“Fancy meeting you here, huh?” He gave Ted an opening, but he didn’t take it. “Grocery shopping on the last night of Hanukkah? What is this, a muppet special?”

“Um,” Ted replied intelligently. He stared up at him, dumbfounded. He knew what day it was? Why? “Yeah. In a minute I’m gonna stick my hand up Kermit’s ass and tell you about the miracle of the lights.”

Booster laughed a little too loudly and made Ted crack a grin. What had he done to deserve this beautiful man?

“Why, did you have something better to do this holiday season?” Ted continued.

“I’m spending this one alone,” he said. “Need a break, this year’s been crazy.”

“I know I didn’t really help with that.”

“No, not really.”

“Can I cite Christmas blues as my defense?” Ted tried. He earned another short laugh and a grin in response.

“I’ll allow it for now,” Booster answered. Ted felt all the tension leave his shoulders in a rush. “Me, I’m feeling low enough to look for company in the local haberdashery.”

Ted snorted and said, “me too, but why are you—“ He finally looked down to see the only item in Booster’s hands. “You mean you forgot cranberries, too?”

Then suddenly they laughed and laughed, having caught on to what was happening, that Hanukkah magic’s brought this tale to a very happy ending.

——

“We’re going to be late!” Ted called. He was waiting in Booster’s living room. He’d been waiting for ten minutes now. Every time he called into the bedroom to enquire or encourage, he heard the same.

“Just a minute!”

Ted couldn’t believe how lucky he’d been to find a guy like Booster. At Hanukkah, he’d explained everything to the man back at his place over turkey. He told Booster all about the panic he went into when Halloween fell apart, how it reminded him of his many falling outs with Melody. He told him it was by no means a reflection on Booster and that if he wanted to try something again, Ted was more than willing. Amazingly, stupendously, inexplicably, Booster had agreed. They’d seen each other twice since then and this was going to be their third date. Somehow they’d restrained themselves into taking it slow, but everyone knew what could happen at New Year’s Eve parties.

“Am I decent?” Booster asked. Ted turned around and felt his eyes bug out.

“I’d say you look much better than that.” Booster wasn’t just wearing a button up and a pair of pants, he was wearing a perfectly tailored royal blue collared shirt which clung to him in all the right places. He had steel gray slacks that stuck to his ass like they’d been painted on. Even his damn _shoes_ were sexy.

“If you think I look good, you should take a look at yourself, baby,” Ted flushed all over. He doubted Booster would ever be able to convince him that he was as attractive as Booster said, but he sure liked the ways Booster tried to convince him.

Ted himself was wearing an ensemble Babs once called “the Cutie Patootie” and Bea once called “Sadly Nonflammable”. Ted preferred to think of it as a pink sweater with lime green trousers and a yellow jacket, though he liked Booster’s assessment, too.

Booster crossed the room and nudged Ted’s jaw up from its position on the floor.

“Come on, slow poke, you were the one concerned about being late.”

They, surprisingly, arrived at Scott and Barda’s house at ten thirty, allowing plenty of time to mingle and introduce Booster to all of Ted’s friends. Everyone was there, Barda had really gone all out. Along with Oberon and Orion, Ted found Dinah, Oliver, Bea, Tora, Guy, John Jones, John Stewart, Billy and Mary, Kimiyo, Dmitri and his wife, Vic Sage, Helena, Ralph and Sue Dibney, Bruce, Selina, Dick, Babs, Jason, Wally, Roy, Diana, Clark, Kyle Rayner, and a whole lot of other people Ted couldn’t talk to before midnight. Each of those persons enumerated had different opinions on Ted at the moment, and after meeting Booster held a similar opinion of him. Ted considered that a win.

Barbara had, of course, been sweet as candy to Booster. She punch ted in the shoulder and told him that if he ever hurt Booster, she'd kill him.

They were all crowded around the TV in the Free’s living room when the count down started. Booster had been holding Ted’s hand for a while now, but he tilted his significantly taller frame so he had his head on Ted’s shoulder. Ted smiled softly in response and tilted his head to land on Booster’s.

Ted hadn’t been this happy or content in a long time.

“3-2-1- Happy New Year!” Everyone shouted together.

Booster had his free hand on the back of Ted’s neck and Ted had his own free hand on Booster’s bicep. They pulled each other close in equal measure and when that first press of lips on lips began, it felt to Ted like a true beginning. It may have taken them a little while to get where they were, but as far as Ted saw it, they had the rest of their lives to hold each other just like this, kiss each other just as sweetly, laugh together just as heartily, and love together like no one was watching.

Ted was going to love Booster for the rest of his life.

——

Booster was going to love Ted for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Ted's outfit and its title can be found in this post https://barryallenisravenclaw.tumblr.com/post/187480880563/ladies-and-gentlemen-and-persons-of-other of mine on Tumblr


End file.
